Roller-gin.



N'o. 731,561. L PATLNTLD JUNE 2s, mos.A L. L. Foss.

ROLLER GIN.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 15, 1901.

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No. 731,561. PATBNTED JUNE 23. 1903.

L. L. Foss'.

ROLLER GrIN.`

AIPLUJATION FILED AUG. 15, 1901.

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UitrTnn STATESQ IVPatentecl` June 23, 1903.

PATENT FFIcn,

LELANDL. EOSS,` OF MAN-ASSAS, GEORGIA. r

ROLLER-GIN.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent N o. 731,561,

dated June 23, 1903.

Application led August l5, 1901. Serial Ilo. 72.200. (No model.)

A To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Improvements in Gins; and I Be it known that I,`LELAND L. Foss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Manassas, in the county of Tattnall, State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful do hereby del clare the following to be a full, clear, and

The invention has as its chief object the provision offa machine that will be doubleaeting or so constructed as to increase its operative capacity to a double degree, and one form of means in which I have embodied the inventiomas exemplified in the specification, includes an oscillatory seed-board onto which 4Other objects and advantages of the invention Will be understood from the following description.

In the drawings forming a portion of this, specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a perspective viewof my improved gin, a portion of one of the dischargechutes beingbroken away. Fig. 2is a plan view of the gin. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken longitudinally of the gin. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the gin. Eig. 5 is a section taken on line 5 5 of Figs. 2 and 3.

as well as they portray wellof mechanism and essential A The drawings,

known forms well-known means, are diagrammatic .in contradistinction to what are known as working drawings; but they are designed to picture the invention so that any one skilled in the art may make and use the same.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown therein a long or double gin, including two sets of hackers, a common intermediate seed-board, and accompanyingI members, the breasts and rollers at the opposite sides being sufficiently long the two hackers connected with the edges of the seed-board. The gin comprises a framework including, as herein shown,t'or example, longitudinal sills and 1l, which are connected by means of the end sills 12 and 13 `and intermediate transverse sills 14. Upon the end sills are disposed the corner-uprights 15, 16, 17, and 18, upon the upper ends of which are secured the top beams 19 and 20, respectively, below and parallel with which are the transverse supporting-beams 21 and 22, between which and the top beams are the uprights 23 and 24 at each end ofthe gin.

Extending longitudinally of the gin-frame and at each side thereof is a breast 25 and 26, respectively, at the ends of which are trunnions 27, Which turn in and project through bearing-boxes 29, mounted for vertical sliding movement between the uprights 23 and 24, and angle-irons 28, which are attached at their ends each to an upright 23 or 24, and a top beam 19 or 20. Each of the boxes has a screw-threaded stem 30, which is passed up- Wardly through a perforation in the adjacent top beam, and their stems are provided with nuts by manipulation of which the stems may be moved to raise or lower the boxes and therewith the breasts. Against the'inner faces of the breasts are bolted the ginningblades 31, these blades extending throughout the lengths of the breasts and projecting slightly therebelow, as shown.

Upon the beams 21 and 22 are bearing-boxes 32 and 32', and upon the intermediate crossbeam 14 is a post33, on which is athird bearing 34, and in these `boxes are journaled the truunions at the ends of the two stay-bars 35 and 36. The truunions of stay-bar 35 are journaled in the boxes 32 and 34, while the truunions of the stay-bar 36 are journaled in the boxes 34 and 32. Each of the stay-bars to accom modate IOO ' comprises two parallel plates 37 and 38, having connecting-webs 39 and 40 at their ends, which carry the trunnions 4l and 42, respectively, of the bearings.

The stay-bars support the seed-boards, which are the same in construction when two machines are employed, so that a description of one will suffice for them both. The seedboard consists of a plate 44, of sheet-iron or other suitable metal, in which and extending transversely thereof are cut rectangular open ings 45, the side edges of the plate being bent upwardly and formed fiat, as shown at 46 and 47, and to the outer faces of these upturned edges are bolted the hacker-plates 49 and 50.

To sustain the seed-board, bolt-bars 5l are engaged with the side plates of the stay-bar and the lower portions of the hacker-blades 49 and 50, the bars having nuts engaged therewith to hold them in place. The boxes 32, 32', and 34 are mounted between the angleplates 53, between which they are adapted for vertical sliding movement to permit of vertical adjustment of the seed-boards and therewith the hacker plates or blades, the boxes being held normally and yieldably depressed by means of the helical springs 54, disposed upon their upper faces and between them and the cross-pins 55, connecting the upperendsoftheadjacentangle-plates. To raise the boxes so as to -cause the hacker-plates to lie close to the ginning-blades when in their greatest proximity, a wedge 55 is disposed beneath each box and on which the boxes -i-est, these wedges being connected to the shift-rod 56, which is passed therethrough, one end of the shift-rod being threaded and engaged with a perforation in the yoke-plate 57, said rod having also nuts 5S, engaged therewith at opposite sides of the yoke-plate to permit of adjustment of the rod and therewith the wedges longitudinally and to hold them in adjusted position. The wedges work also against wear-plates secured to the frame of the machine. i

In practice the seed-board,with the hackerplates carried thereby, is rocked, so that the hacker-plates at opposite sides of the board are alternately raised to the ginning-blades, and thetwo boards when the machine is constructed in double form are preferably rocked in reverse directions. To thus rock or oscillate the seed-boards, a crank-shaft 60 is provided having two pairs of cranks 6l and (52, the pair of cranks 61 extending in opposite directions from the cranks 62. At each end of the hacker-plate at one side of the machine is engaged a rod 632/, which is taken downwardly and then bent to form a bight 63, after which it is taken upwardly and engaged with the corresponding end of the hacker-plate opposite, and the bights of the rods of each plate are engaged by a pivotshaft 64,with which is engaged the bifurcated ends of the pitmcn 65, the opposite ends of which pitmen are connected, by means of straps (i6, with the corresponding cranks of the crank-shaft. Thus as the crank-shaft is rotated the depending bars are swung laterally and the seed-boards are oscillated to move the hacker-plates toward and away from the ginning-blades.

Upon the beams 2l and 22 are mounted additional bearing-boxes 67 and 68, in which are journaled the trunnions at the ends of the rollers 69 and 70, having leather or other suitable covers, these rollers turning close to the outer faces of the ginning-blades and hackerplates, so that the cotton that is placed upon the seed-boards will come in contact with the rollers and will be drawn thereby between the plates and blades. As the seeds move with the cotton against the rollers they are in position for contact by the hacker plates, which move them against the ginning-blades,

so that there is a biting or nibbling action of the blades and plates, with the result that the cotton is taken from the seeds, or rather the seeds are loosened from the cotton and pushed out of it, the cotton passing outwardly with the rollers, from which it is dofed and discharged upon the chute 7l. The seeds as they are freed from the cotton fall upon the seed-board, from which latter they pass through the openings therein.

In order that the grinning-blades may be adjusted in their relation or proximity to the rollers, the breasts are pivotally mounted, as above described, and from the inner faces of the breasts and at the ends thereof there project inwardly and downwardly fingers 72, against which bear set-screws 7 3, screwed through lugs 74 on the plates 75, forming the ends of the trough in which the cotton to be ginned is received. By adjusting these setscrews the breasts and therewith the ginningblades are swung toward and away from the rollers.

To increase the efficiency of the mechanism, it is necessary that the ginning-blades be held down yieldably, so that the seeds may not be crushed when pressed thereagainst, and for this purpose tension-springs 76 in the form of leaf-springs are provided and are attached to the ends of the frame of the machine, as shown, so that they have a degree of pivotal movement, and connected with the ends of the springs are rods 77, passed through perforations in the ends of the spring, the rods being threaded for engagement by nuts 78, which permit of adjustment of the rods through the perforations. The upper ends of the rods are provided with hooks 78, which are engaged with metal'straps 7 9,bent at their upper ends to form loops 80, which are engaged over the trunnions of the breasts, as

shown.

The bolt-bars 51, which connect the seedboards with the stay-bars, provide for adjusting the hackers toward and away from each other.

In the construction of-a single or short gin only a single set of hackers is employed, the breasts being correspondingly shortened.

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Furthermore, a single crank-leg may be provided for each set of hackers, said crank-leg having a connecting-rod connecting with a single crank of the crank-shaft, it being understood that other modifications of the specitic construction shown maybe made and that any suitable materials and proportions may be used for the various parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Each of the rollers has a belt-wheel 85, iXed to one end of its shaft, and engaged therewith are belts 86, leading to belt-wheels 87, fixed to the ends of the shaft 60. The shaft 60 may be rotated from any suitable source of energy, and from it will in turn be rotated the rollers. It will be noted that one of the belts 86 is crossed in order that the rollers may both rotate with their sides to the seed-board downwardly.

In all instances a single or common seedboard is provided for each pair of the ginrollers and their cooperative parts, this construction providing for the ready supplying of unginned cotton to the machine and avoiding thenecessity of watching more than one hopper or seed-board. Again, it is to be noted that the gin-rollers are arranged on the same horizontal plane at the sides of the seedboard, so that the operation of the parts can at all times be observed and everything be kept going in proper order. By placing a ginroller and its coperative parts at each side of the seed-board, providing the latter at its opposite sides with the hacker-plates to coact with the rollers and blades, and oscillating the seed-board as described the strain on the machine is equalized, and it is quite as easily operated and tended or its operations observed as though there were one roller and adjuncts employed, while its capacity is substantially doubled. Another thing to be noted is that while one hacker-plate is advancing toward the operative edge of the ginblade the other is receding, and vice versa.

That is claimed is- 1. A roller-gin comprising spaced ginningrollers and coperating blades, a single movable seed-board disposed between the rollers for coperation therewithand hacker-plates carried by the seed-board and movable there-` with in cooperative relation to the rollers andy blades, said seed-board having an unobstructed upper surface adapted to support cotton for treatment by the mechanism at either side of the seed-board.

2. A cotton-gin comprising two gin-rollers and cooperating ginning-blades, a single oscillatory seed-board disposed between and in operative relation to both rollers, and hackerplates at opposite edges of the seed-board and movable therewith toward and away from the ginning-blades, the axis of oscillation of the board being below the board and the upper face of the seed-board bein g free from obstructions.

3. A cotton-gin comprising two gin-rollers and coperating ginning-blades, a single oscillatory seed-board disposed between and in operative relation to both rollers, and hackerplates at opposite edges of the seed-board and movable therewith toward and away from the ginning-blades, the axis vof oscillation of the board being below the board and the upper face of the seed-board being free from 0bstructions, said seed-board being curved upwardly from one hacker-plate to the other.

4. In a cotton-gin, the combination with a staybar, of a convex seedboard having hacker-plates at its side edges, and adjustable bolt-bars engaged with the hacker-plates, the seed-board, and the stay-bar for adjusting the hacker-plates toward and from each other.

5. In a cotton-gin, the combination with a seed-board, of hacker-plates secured to the side edges thereof, said plates and side edge portions being adjustable toward and away from each other, a support for the seed-board and adjustable means connecting the hackerplates and seed-board with the support for adjusting the plates correlatively.

6. A roller-gin comprising a plurality of gin-rollers, a ginning-blade for each roller, a single oscillatory seed-board mounted between the rollers in cooperative relation thereto and hacker-plates carried by and movable with the seed-board in operative relation to the rollers and their blades, said seed-board having a continuous unobstructed upper surface between the hacker-plates for free passage of the cotton across the plate to either roller.

'7. In a gin, the combination with a stayfrom, of V-shaped frames having their upper ends attached to the hacker-plates and having a cross-bar connecting their bight portions, an additional V-shaped frame having its ends connected to the stay-bar and having its bight portion connected to said cross-bar, and means connected with the cross-bar at the bight portion of. each of the first-named V-shaped frames for rocking the cross-bar and therewith the hacker-plates.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LELAND L. FOSS. Witnesses:

W. F. BARNETT,

J. B. BREWTON.

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- bar having hacker-plates supported there- IOS IIO 

